Designing a (Small) Closet

Now that we have the bones for our small entry closet, it’s on to the interesting part: the design.  For the past few weeks we’ve been throwing around ideas about what we need from our new closet from a functionality standpoint as well as considering the eye candy factor since we will look at our little closet every time we go in and out of the house.  And that could really bring us down to look at a snarly, ugly mess welcoming us in the door.  So we are committed to having an organized and aesthetically pleasing closet.  Our vision is likely to change along the way, but we’ve put together a bit of inspiration before we dig in.

Like I said, it is not huge.  The floor space is just 3 1/2 feet by 2 feet.  However, that is not going to stop us from having everything we need in there, including: 1)shoe storage; 2) coat hooks; 3) a bench; and 4) shelves for other storage.

We did a test with a storage bench we already have just to help us mull over the idea of having a spot to sit down in the closet.  It works like a charm.  The seating aspect is a must for Dain.  I’ve never personally seen him sit down to put on his shoes, but as he turns 29 this week, he might just be anticipating reaching the age where he will need to sit down to lace his work boots.  Or he’s thinking ahead for those days where he’ll be tying tiny shoe laces while our nugget tries to squirm away from him.  Either way, a bench will probably come in handy.  And we definitely have room for it since we could squeeze this one in there.

Of course Dain is awesome at visualizing things so he has a perfect mental picture of white beadboard on the walls along with a built-in storage unit with cubbies for shoes and built-in seating along with coat hooks higher up on the walls.  Since I don’t have those visual skills, I hunted down a few pictures to inspire me.  Cue Pinterest.  While I cannot find an original source for this photo (other than this blog posting it without mentioning a source), I love this closet’s crisp clean lines.  Plus it has what we are looking for with the seating, storage, and hooks.  I also enjoy the higher shelf with the basket on it because we definitely have room to do that on the inside left of our closet as it is about 8 feet tall

I also searched online for a few more inspiring ideas.  And since I want to live inside the Pottery Barn catalog, I had to check out their ideas for entryways.  I love this storage solution with the upper and lower storage.  Plus the white paneling on the wall is kind of along the lines of what Dain is thinking for our closet.

Another one I love is this one.  And if I lived by myself, I would rock the pink accents.  But since I am lucky enough to have a Dain in the house, we’ll probably do more subdued accent colors.  I do, however, love how all of the entryway essentials are organized in this one unit because that is definitely what we are going for.

Finally, I found this gem, which is very similar to what we are going for since it has the built-in bench, shoe storage (in the drawers), and hooks.  Ours of course would have to be on a much smaller scale, but it’s definitely doable to have a bench with shoe storage directly underneath it with more storage above the bench with the coat hooks.

From where we are now, the next step will be for Dain to prime and paint the walls.  Then he can add any kind of decorative wall treatment we choose.  He is committed to beadboard.  My only hesitation on that is that all of the beadboard I’ve seen so far is made of MDF, which is not something I want in our house thanks to the likelihood that it has formaldehyde and other vocs in it that will off-gas in our house.  This beadboard from the Home Depot actually lists “MDF” in the specifications under “Primary Specific Wood Species” after stating that it is 100% wood.  I find that claim highly suspect, especially considering MDF is not a wood species.  At least I’ve never seen an MDF tree.  But that is basically par for the course in trying to have an eco-friendly, non-toxic home.  It requires a ton of work.  So we will see on that aspect.  Although paintable beadboard wallpaper gets rave reviews so that might be another option.

As for the storage, Dain is planning on building the bench part because as much as I love the Pottery Barn organizers, they are definitely out of our price range at $500 for the bench and wall unit.  Then we will add shelving with decorative baskets on the left side for storage, and I am excited to find some beautiful hooks in the meantime.  Like these, which rock my world.  As most things do from Anthropologie.  Now I just need to get Dain on board and for them to go on sale.  My fingers are crossed.

While it may take the next six weeks to get all of our projects done, like this closet, it’ll be worth it in the end.  And if it seems like our projects drag on forever, it’s because they do.  Trust us.  That’s our reality.  It would be awesome to have everything done in a day, but considering we will enjoy it for years to come, it’s worth putting in all of the painstaking details.  How about you?  Are you doing any remodeling or redecorating around your house this winter?